St. Edward’s University volleyball team fell in a stinging 3-2 loss to the Oklahoma Christian University (OCU) Eagles.
Both teams played their second leg of games on back-to-back days — OCU fell 3-0 to St Mary’s University, and St. Edward’s defeated Cameron University 3-0. The Hilltoppers started the match slow in the opening set as the Eagles comfortably claimed it with a 25-18 final score.
The Hilltoppers raised the intensity in the second set by squeezing out a 25-23 victory. Both teams went back and forth in a set filled with ties and lead changes.
SEU dropped the pivotal third set, squandering a 21-16 lead. The Hilltoppers showed signs of fatigue as they committed a season-high 30 attack errors. Late rotations and miscommunications plagued SEU as OCU took the third set 26-24.
In the fourth set, the Hilltoppers and Eagles traded punches; going point for point early in the set. The Hilltoppers sparked a 9-2 run to go up 15-6, and reach 20 first. Anxiety rose among the Hilltoppers after they blew a lead in the previous set, but they bore down and finished the job, taking the fourth set 25-21.
The Hilltoppers started the fifth set strong, getting out to a 4-1 lead, but ran out of gas as the issues of the third set ressurfaced, falling 15-11 in the fifth set allowing OCU to clinch the match.
“I think the team battled well,” St. Edward’s head coach Jared Te’o said. “In the fifth set, you can’t have unforced errors and we had quite a few.”
The Hilltoppers will return to action on Oct. 11 at 6:00 p.m. at home against Dallas Baptist University.
